Legal expert about for advice ref travel insurance company?

[sheel]

I have emailed the person concerned today as she did not reply to my email last night asking for an update on their situation, apparently she is out of the office today but will be in contact with her manager tomorrow

They have certainly got themselves in a bit of a pickle as last week they were offering to cover me but not any previous conditions relating to my cancer ie if I broke my leg I would be covered but if I broke the leg that has just had the titanium rod fitted to strengthen it due to bone erosion then this would not be covered

They have change position again saying they will not cover at all, I have asked for confirmation ref this matter as they surely must have some form of standards (baring in mind this is all recorded)

I await the reply tomorrow with interest although I feel I will probably have to curtail my OZ trip in Dec

I am still as mad as a bag of frogs over the whole situation I feel a letter to MOS and Watchdog coming on and an official complaint to the Ombudsman

[JustinP1]

Goody13 said:

If they would cover any necessary treatment you may need whilst abroad, then your worst-case scenario is repatriation. This would be expensive but probably a reasonably known cost, and if you have had your other insurance payouts you at least, presumably, have a fund for this.

When I looked into this for my Dad so that he may be able to make his final trip as I mentioned in my previous post, IIRC the quotes that I got were not as horrendous as I initially feared they would be.

Being practical, rather then morbid, we arranged that should my Dad pass away abroad the cost of a funeral was probably the same price as here. Repatriation was about £7k I think, outside Europe, so probably less inside. There's companies that deal with the paperwork for you.

If you are ill abroad, there are what are effectively Lear jets which are converted as one-person hospitals. IIRC that was about £10k to £15k. That option can at least double if you are looking at an intercontinental flight.

I readied all the paperwork for the options so the 'fear of the unknown' was gone and should the work happen I have all the paperwork and contacts in my bag ready.

Once you know the costs, it's simply a calculated risk - inside Europe is less financially risky that outside, but even then, with money ready to pay for eventualities, there's nothing stopping you saying 'fk it!'.

[sheel]

Justin, the fk it option is the one I will probably take, the problems I have are lung cancer bone cancer and multiple brain tumours, of the 3 the most unknown will be the brain and none of these are likely to strike me down big time, the only possible problem could be the head and this could be easily treated with steroids at a local hospital.
As I said in previous posts, I am very very well
I don't want to have a major spat with the insurers until they settle Australia or relent and cover me as agreed !!

[JustinP1]

sheel said:

Justin, the fk it option is the one I will probably take, the problems I have are lung cancer bone cancer and multiple brain tumours, of the 3 the most unknown will be the brain and none of these are likely to strike me down big time, the only possible problem could be the head and this could be easily treated with steroids at a local hospital.
As I said in previous posts, I am very very well
I don't want to have a major spat with the insurers until they settle Australia or relent and cover me as agreed !!

Yes, my Dad was very similar.

The thing with brain tumours is you can have little or no symptoms then the pressure on the brain reaches a 'tipping point' where function can be severely impaired. My Dad went from being totally undiagnosed of a brain tumour to being unresponsive in 48 hours.

You are quite correct that orally taken steroids reduce the fluid from the edema around the tumour which gives some respite. That can be 'topped up' with a short course of radiotherapy to keep them at bay with little side effects. They make a mask for you where the beam markers are drawn on.

The bits of advice I would offer from the mistakes I made was being too proud to accept help at first. The NHS were awesome. There was a doctor 'on call' who came to the house. They offered home modifications -even including fitting a stair lift - with the full knowledge it would be used for weeks or a few months at very best. I know you are no-where near this yet (!) but they'll bring a hospital style reclining bed to you at home and provide a daily nurse or a rotation who can stay for up to 24 hours a day. All free of charge of course.

For now though, if it's NSCLC you have, Google Tarceva. They don't usually tell you about it, but the results can be very good. Problem is only certain areas fund the use and you'll need to be in pretty much full health for them to prescribe it.

[TVR1]

sheel said:

Im a happy bunny in my 54 years ive done loads met great people had a ball worked hard and made a good life docs I weeks ago told me the average time for my illness is 12 weeks my response was bks ive never done convention a d wont start now !!

Not wanting to put you on the spot OP but have you been diagnosed with metastasised liver cancer?

[sheel]

TVR1 said:

Not wanting to put you on the spot OP but have you been diagnosed with metastasised liver cancer?

Hi TVR1 no liver is fine although thanks to this I have given it a pretty good hammering lately!!! they have not found it anywhere else
For anyone else who reads this it all started as an aching leg 12 months ago which I though was my hip, this was checked and nothing found, after chasing my GP I was eventually seen by a specialist who found part of my femur missing in March, I was then referred to a Birmingham specialist hospital who bluntly completely fked things up and told me to go home and rest it despite being given clear evidence, bone scans MRI and Xray from the specialist in Coventry
Although I pressed my GP he was unable to do very much in the following weeks as I was still technically under Birmingham
10 weeks ago I was working on my Tiv and banged my head slightly on the tyre, I lost my ability for normal conversation and also lost my word finding skills (could see letters but not compute them to words) my wife made me go to A+E who kept me in thinking I had had a mini stroke, Ct scans showed anomaly's to my brain and further MRI showed multiple tumours subsequent CT showed tumours to one lung. The word and language skills returned within a few hours

Once in the NHS they have been brill, when going down the treatment paths my Oncologist wanted an update of my femur, within 72 hours he had me in and I have had a 600mm long rod fitted into the bone bolted to my hip and screwed to the bottom of the femur, the tumour that Birmingham had said was not there 3 months before had eroded that much of the femur it was in danger of breaking

The next fight will be with Birmingham, every specialist who has treated me in Coventry has been fantastic and although they don't discuss my treatment at Brum, the body language and looks say it all.

I have received a full report on my entire history with no name written on the report and this details all the info sent to Brum prior to my attendance, it makes damming reading aimed at the specialists who fked up

I will consider my reactions towards them shortly.

Brums actions put diagnosis and treatment back by 10 weeks, negligent comes to mindw

[sheel]

Ok guys bit of an update on this one,
My charming insurance company replied at 4.45 tonight, they have cancelled my annual policy and will cover me for a single trip only ie next week with the provision that they will not cover any pre existing condition
So I cant really travel to Oz at Xmas with no insurance and having an unknown health situation, I really need to cancel the flights, with the insurance company cancelling my policy does this mean they have got out of that one as well??
I have emailed them at 5pm informing them of my intentions to cancel but no reply

thanks
Richard

[Goody13]

Three words. Treating Customers Fairly. Throw in that phrase (or TCF). i.e. it's not TCF. I would suggest they need to pay for cancellation of your Oz trip & I believe the FOS would agree.

[LoonR1]

Goody13 said:

Three words. Treating Customers Fairly. Throw in that phrase (or TCF). i.e. it's not TCF. I would suggest they need to pay for cancellation of your Oz trip & I believe the FOS would agree.

TCF is about high level policies and procedures and being able to evidence clearly that there are measures in place to demonstrate it. It is not about one off cases and Treating Customers Well in excess of what the contract they have in place requires.

Haven't they already agreed to the refund of the cost of cancellation?

[Bill]

sheel said:

Ok guys bit of an update on this one,
My charming insurance company replied at 4.45 tonight, they have cancelled my annual policy and will cover me for a single trip only ie next week with the provision that they will not cover any pre existing condition
So I cant really travel to Oz at Xmas with no insurance and having an unknown health situation, I really need to cancel the flights, with the insurance company cancelling my policy does this mean they have got out of that one as well??
I have emailed them at 5pm informing them of my intentions to cancel but no reply

thanks
Richard

If (AIUI) the diagnosis came after you booked the flight and you had the insurance policy in place then you should at least be covered for cancelling the holiday due to illness? Surely?

Best of luck with everything.

[Goody13]

LoonR1 said:

TCF is about high level policies and procedures and being able to evidence clearly that there are measures in place to demonstrate it. It is not about one off cases and Treating Customers Well in excess of what the contract they have in place requires.

Haven't they already agreed to the refund of the cost of cancellation?

But is it well in excess of what the contact says? I didn't think they had agreed to cover the cost of cancelling, which is what I was referring to.

[sheel]

Please to say, the underwriter's call direct today after my email to the insurers last night mentioned Barristers !!

An intermediate agreement has been put in place which covers me for my forth coming break excluding pre existing conditions, however they have also written an amount in to cover a large chunk of repatriation if needed (hopefully not)so not perfect but good enough

They have also agreed that the cancelation costs for OZ will be covered and will be advising that I will be looking for compensation for distress and inconvenience from the supplying company

I did mention that I was quite prepared to escalate this to the relevant authorities and they were keen to avoid, hopefully the distress element will provide a sensible figure for the agro they have caused

[Goody13]

Excellent news. I think you have a fair result there. It would be very difficult for them to get out of paying to cancel your Oz holiday after withdrawing cover for it.

[dacouch]

Goody13 said:

Excellent news. I think you have a fair result there. It would be very difficult for them to get out of paying to cancel your Oz holiday after withdrawing cover for it.

Not really, if the medical problem was first diagnosed after the renewal date and after booking a holiday then the Insurer should be offering cover or offering to refund the cancellation costs of the holiday / holidays

[Goody13]

dacouch said:

Goody13 said:

Excellent news. I think you have a fair result there. It would be very difficult for them to get out of paying to cancel your Oz holiday after withdrawing cover for it.

Not really, if the medical problem was first diagnosed after the renewal date and after booking a holiday then the Insurer should be offering cover or offering to refund the cancellation costs of the holiday / holidays

That's what I said!

[dacouch]

Goody13 said:

That's what I said!

But they're not covering the first holiday which if booked before first diagnosis should be covered or cancellation

[JustinP1]

dacouch said:

Goody13 said:

That's what I said!

But they're not covering the first holiday which if booked before first diagnosis should be covered or cancellation

They are covering it on a bespoke basis which I'd suggest is goodwill as their terms say bugger off and he shouldn't be covered.

I would also suggest the OP could cancel under the policy *if* he wanted. But he doesn't, for obvious reasons.

[sheel]

According to the terms of their crap policy, and this is where reading the small print comes in, declaration of a change in health conditions is required, at my point in declaration I had a terminal illness and they will not insure from thereafter, they then cancelled the policy
Both holidays were booked prior to the illness
In view of the situation and time factor I feel it is the best I can hope for, I get cover for next week albeit not everything but a good part and my Oz trip is refunded, I will also be looking for a distress and inconvenience payment

[JustinP1]

sheel said:

In view of the situation and time factor I feel it is the best I can hope for...

I think you are totally right.

If you consider the wider aspect, a general policy couldn't financially cover the cost of someone travelling with a terminal illness carte blanche.

In your case the risks are of course minimal, but I guess they must protect themselves from people travelling irresponsibly with the knowledge that they can enjoy hideously expensive care abroad, with the knowledge they may be prevented on flying home, and if they are allowed through the costs of a five figure chartered specialist jet.

If general policies covered that then they'd be a hell of a lot more expensive for everyone, and this probably wouldn't be purchases in preference of the cheaper schemes.

You remaining issue is as you've said the distress caused by them first of all agreeing to cover you and then retracting that cover - some kind of goodwill payment.

[dacouch]

JustinP1 said:

I think you are totally right.

If you consider the wider aspect, a general policy couldn't financially cover the cost of someone travelling with a terminal illness carte blanche.

In your case the risks are of course minimal, but I guess they must protect themselves from people travelling irresponsibly with the knowledge that they can enjoy hideously expensive care abroad, with the knowledge they may be prevented on flying home, and if they are allowed through the costs of a five figure chartered specialist jet.

If general policies covered that then they'd be a hell of a lot more expensive for everyone, and this probably wouldn't be purchases in preference of the cheaper schemes.

You remaining issue is as you've said the distress caused by them first of all agreeing to cover you and then retracting that cover - some kind of goodwill payment.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/36/terms-of-policy.htm